The second day of training camp brought about some unwelcome news for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as head coach Sheldon Keefe informed the media that center Alex Kerfoot suffered an unspecified injury.
“(Alex) is a little bit banged up. He’s going to be evaluated tomorrow and we will see how it goes.” Keefe said. “He’s probably doubtful to skate tomorrow, but it’s looking like he’ll be day-to-day from here.”
Kerfoot was centering the checking line with Ilya Mikheyev and Zach Hyman, but with his likely lack of availability for the next few days and an intersquad scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday, Keefe indicated that someone practicing with the second group could shift to the main group to take Kerfoot’s place.
That could mean promoting a winger like Nick Robertson or Joey Anderson and shifting Joe Thornton up the middle, or adding Pierre Engvall or Travis Boyd and putting him up the middle in place of Kerfoot.
*******
The Leafs placed winger Denis Malgin on waivers on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was acquired from Florida last February and went scoreless in eight games for Toronto before the league shutdown in March. Malgin is currently leading Lausanne of the Swiss league in scoring with 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 19 games and it may be the belief that placing him on waivers now increases the chances of him going unclaimed and playing in the American Hockey League if he returns to North America when the league begins their schedule in February.
Both forward Kalle Kossila and defenseman David Warsofsky have been placed and cleared waivers in the last week.
*******
The six Toronto prospects at the IIHF World Junior Championships will not get a chance to play for the gold medal on Tuesday, as Russia lost 5-0 to Canada and Finland lost 4-3 to the United States in the semi-final on Monday.
Leafs 2020 first rounder Rodion Amirov has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in six games and leads Russia in scoring, but was strangely not selected as one of the three best players for his country in the tournament. Toronto prospect Mikhail Abramov scored a power play goal in the game, but it was negated due to an offside.
Roni Hirvonen scored in his second straight game, tying the game for the Finns late in the third, and has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in six games, while 2020 third rounder Topi Niemela currently leads the tournament in defensive scoring with seven points (2 goals, 5 assists).
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»